Tag: George Sotiropoulos

Eiji Mitsuoka looks to make it three straight against “The Fireball Kid”

As first reported by MMAWeekly.com, George Sotiropoulos has pulled out of his upcoming bout against Takanori Gomi due to an undisclosed injury. With one month to go until UFC 144, it is likely that thirty six year old UFC newcomer Eiji Mitsuoka will now be fighting against Takanori Gomi. The UFC has yet to confirm the rumored matchup.

Don’t start screaming “squash fight!” just yet. Eiji Mitsuoka is 18-7-2 in his MMA career, with eleven of his victories coming by submission. Considering that six of Gomi’s eight losses have been by submissions, things should get interesting if Mitsuoka can get Gomi to the ground. The PRIDE veteran also holds notable victories over Joachim Hansen, Gleison Tibau and Rodrigo Damm. Mitsuoka’s most recent performance has been a unanimous decision over Bruno Carvalho at Dream: Japan GP Final on July 16, 2011. Videos available after the jump.

Takanori Gomi‘s run in the UFC has resulted in an underwhelming 1-3 record, marked by submission losses to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UFC is giving the Fireball Kid one more try in front of his home country’s fans — or at least the ones who will be dragging ass to the Saitama Super Arena early enough to catch the prelims.

The UFC has confirmed that Gomi will return at UFC 144 on February 26th, against Aussie grappling specialist George Sotiropoulos, who’s also had a rough go of it lately. After going 7-0 in the Octagon following his stint on TUF 6, Sotiropoulos is now riding back-to-back losses against Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. In other words, jobs could be on the line here.

Gomi vs. GSots brings the UFC 144 card up to 12 star-studded fights, including the lightweight title headliner between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, and bouts featuring Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, and Yushin Okami. Check out the current lineup after the jump, before injuries blow it all to hell.

Even if you aren’t looking forward to the main event of Saturday’s UFC 132: Faber vs. Cruz this upcoming long weekend, there is much more to excite you about this card even with BJ Penn and Jon Fitch out with injuries.

Check out what goodness 132 has in store for you and the remainder of the countdown show after the jump.

For George Sotiropulos, the past four months since his disappointing UFC 127 loss to Dennis Siver have been about finding a balance in his life between training and all of the extrinsic factors that prevented him from focusing fully on it. According to G-Sots, who has been noticeably absent from the limelight since the fight, he has set the wheels of change in motion to ensure that he isn’t being stretched too thin and that he continues to improve as a fighter and as a person.

We caught up with the UFC lightweight contender recently and spoke with him at length about the fight with Siver, the factors that he feels contributed to the first “real” loss on his record and the steps he’s taken to make sure he makes the best of the learning experience to ensure that he doesn’t make the same mistakes twice inside and outside of the Octagon.

(Bader beat him. K-Sos beat him. Lawlor beat him. Now he’s one of the toughest prospects in the light-heavyweight division — proving once again that shaving your head is always a good career move. Photo props to UFC.com)

Not to pee-pee on Tony Ferguson‘s parade, but winning The Ultimate Fighter is no guaranteeof success in the UFC. On the other hand, getting eliminated while in the TUF house is no guarantee of failure either. In fact, some of today’s most dangerous UFC contenders are guys who entered the promotion through the reality show, but didn’t even get to fight for the glass trophy. In the wake of Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale, here’s how I’d rank the Top 10 non-finalists from The Ultimate Fighter, based on their current standing in the promotion…

#1: Gray MaynardOn TUF: Was choked out by Nate Diaz in the semi-finals of season 5.These days: Drew with Frankie Edgar in his first lightweight title challenge in January, but will get another crack at the belt later this year. His pair of title fights against Edgar follow an eight-fight win streak in the Octagon, which included a decision win against Diaz in a rematch last year.

#2: Josh KoscheckOn TUF: Lost a split-decision to Diego Sanchez in the semi-finals of season 1.These days: A perennial top contender in the welterweight division, Kos will be one of the front-runners for the belt if GSP ever leaves the division; until then, he’ll just have to be content with being “right up there.”

Evan Dunham will have to wait a little longer before he can erase his last Octagon appearance from the minds of fans. The UFC lightweight prospect, who is 0-2 in his past two outings has been forced to pull out of a scheduled UFC 132 bout with George Sotiropoulos (14-3, 7-1 UFC) on July 2 because of an undisclosed injury.

(“FINISH HIM!” shouted the spooky narrator from Mortal Kombat, who had clearly never seen Jon Fitch fight before. Props: MMAConvert)

After their UFC 127 main event ended in a frustrating majority draw, BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have been re-booked for an immediate rematch at UFC 132 (July 2, Las Vegas). The UFC confirmed the news late last night. Both fighters were initially disappointed in their performance, but have since come around to the idea that they both should have won and a rematch is the only logical option. The fight will lead off the live Facebook-stream portion of the evening. (Kidding. It’ll probably be on the main card somewhere.) Maybe this match is a good time to test out the UFC’s proposed use of five-round fights for non-title features. No? Terrible idea?

Strange walkout masks, chest hairrows, random laughter from the audience, a grudge match marred by an illegal knee, and a majority draw in the main event. UFC 127 “Fight for the Convicts 2” provided a night of entertaining bouts and more than its share bizarre moments. While the card might have lacked the star-power and championship fights of some larger events, the UFC loudly trumpeted its significance in deciding future title contenders and challengers alike. In the end little roadway was paved and talks of title runs were shelved for now.

The only thing certain at the top of the welterweight division is uncertainty. Leading up to this event Dana White announced that the winner of Fitch-Penn would advance to challenge the winner of GSP-Shields for the 170lb title. For much of the fight it looked like the same terror that ruled the lightweight division had found his way back to the Octagon. Penn followed up a hefty dose of cross-cage eye-fucking with an immediate shot off the opening bell. While his initial takedown attempt failed, he would out-wrestle the wrestler halfway through the first round and score a takedown. Once it hit the mat we saw shades of the “Old” BJ Penn, who quickly took Fitch’s back and worked for the same rear naked he’s employed in countless fights before. But Fitch proved just as tough to finish as always, and a reversal allowed him to land a little offense of his own on the ground. Round two saw a vintage Fitch try to wear on BJ against the cage. The two exchanged takedowns, with Penn again taking his back and threatening the choke before Fitch escaped to land some punches from the guard. Round 3 more closely resembled the fight many were expecting. Fitch followed up a solid punch with a takedown in the opening seconds of the round. BJ would kick him off shortly, only to be taken down again with just under four minutes left in the round. From BJ’s guard, Fitch was relentless with punches, giving BJ no room to adjust or counter for the remainder of the bout. That last round, scored 10-8 by two judges, would end this fight in a majority draw and add a little disarray to the welterweight picture.

(Hit refresh early and often to stay, uh, abreast of the latest updates … Pic: CombatLifestyle)

In the main event of UFC 127 tonight, a laidback vegan ragamuffin fights a bloodthirsty Hawaiian cannibal to determine some sort of vague No. 1 contender status for a welterweight title which could soon be very much in flux. Will Jon Fitch’s strategy of nonviolence win the day? Or will the night end with BJ Penn licking Fitch’s green, iron-deficient blood off his gloves? Either way, will it ultimately mean anything? There’s really only one way to find out: Sit somewhere thousands of miles from the show’s point of origin and follow this website’s second-hand textual analysis of the high definition moving pictures we’ll be watching on the TV. If that doesn’t work, well, try Twitter or something.

Also, imagine our pleasant surprise this afternoon when we discovered our ridiculously inclusive satellite package actually does carry the Ion Network. In light of that, we’ll probably be posting short-ish recaps of the three televised prelims beginning at 9 p.m. EST. When the PPV itself kicks off an hour later, we’ll be live with updates and uninterrupted snark for the duration. Thanks in advance for your attention in this matter …